Inquiring Minds Homeschool

Learning is lifelong

Menu
  • Inquiring Minds Homeschool
  • About
  • Blog
  • History Planner Free Template
  • Homeschool Refresh
Menu

Poetry Teatime: Adding Joy to Homeschool Writing

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Lisa

Homeschool Writing

Are you wondering how to approach teaching writing in your homeschool? I’d like to introduce you to the Brave Writer program! Brave Writer is not just a homeschool writing program, but a lifestyle. Your children learn to incorporate writing into their everyday lives and find joy in it. They study the English language through appreciating great books, particularly poetry – as you’ll see from today’s topic, Poetry Teatime!

Disclaimer: I am NOT a Brave Writer affiliate. We just love it! I do get a commission if you click on an Amazon link through my site. It’s no extra cost for you & helps keep the content coming. Thanks for supporting the site! And now let’s get on with it…

Poetry Teatime

Poetry teatime is a beautiful time in our weekly routine. We usually do either Saturday or Sunday so that Daddy can participate. We’ve also had weeks where Grandma, aunts, uncles, and even a 2 yr old cousin took part! (And of course our cats are in and out…)

We set the table with a tablecloth, candle, baked treat, juice for the kiddo, and tea for the grown ups. And books! Piles of poetry books to flip through.

Each week we begin by writing down the date and attendees in our logbook. I keep a running list of the books we’re using. If it seems memorable, I add in the menu and the music we’re playing. Aside from wanting to document the teatime for posterity, I find it helps so to keep track of what books we’re checking out from the library and what treats we’re serving, to ensure variety!

Our Teatime Routine

We go around the table reading aloud – sometimes full poems, sometimes snippets. We pick up books and put them down as the mood strikes. Sometimes a reader will stick with the same book for the entire session, or exchange it for a different one. Almost all of our books come from the library, since it would be impossible to maintain a big enough bookshelf of poetry if we had to buy everything!

If we come across a particularly fun or interesting poem, I copy it down in our logbook. Todays’s snippet, from the book Dinosaur Dances: Goodness gracious!/It’s Cretaceous/Party Time again!

After about 20-30 minutes, when all the treats have been eaten and everyone has had a chance to read several poems, we wrap up. Then we schedule the next Poetry Teatime on our calendar!

Why poetry?

Poetry is fantastic for exploring word choice, rhythm, rhyming, and many other aspects of language. You can listen carefully for the meaning, or just let the general tone of it wash over you. My kindergartener loves funny poems (“I like noodles/Give me oodles/Noodles are my favorite foodles”) while my husband tends to pick lyrical, mystical sounding verses.

Poetry has gotten a bad rap in our culture. People think of highfalutin, impenetrable language. And indeed, some poetry might be pretentious or intentionally esoteric. But think about songs – what are they but poetry set to music? Didn’t Bob Dylan win a Nobel Prize in Literature?

Before starting Brave Writer, I’ll admit that poetry wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t even know where the poetry section in the library was. Now I look forward to finding new books for us to read every week!

Why writing?

So we do Poetry Teatime as part of our writing curriculum – though what we’re doing is reading! What’s that about?

Our celebration of poetry every week is a way of making language our own. We are practicing reading the way that writers read – paying attention to the way that the poets do their craft. The idea is to fill up our young writer with an arsenal of words, styles, and voices that he’ll be able to use later.

We are relatively new to Brave Writer, so we are slowly introducing the routines and skills. One of them that I’m just modeling for now is copywork. Basically, it’s writing down snippets or quotes from texts in your own handwriting. I try to select one poem to copy during each of our poetry teatimes. Eventually, I’ll ask that my son start doing the same.

(If you’re curious about how we do reading, check out this post: How to Teach Reading)

How to get started

You can make poetry teatime as simple or elaborate as you’d like! My advice is to make it special somehow – perhaps by using nicer dishes than usual, or putting on special music, or using a nice tablecloth. But the only two essential ingredients are:

  • A selection of poetry books to choose from – get a bunch from the library if you don’t have a big poetry collection at home. It’s definitely helpful to have many books to choose from!
  • A treat to eat – yes, this is important! You want to make it feel like a party!

What books to use

This is going to depend on the ages and interests of the participants. Here are a couple of our favorites (including a few that are written for multiple people to read aloud together):

And I’m sure there’ll be many more!

2 thoughts on “Poetry Teatime: Adding Joy to Homeschool Writing”

  1. Pingback: Homeschool Routines - Inquiring Minds Homeschool
  2. Pingback: Our Weekly Homeschool Routine - Inquiring Minds Homeschool

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Free Challenge

Free Planner

Free Unit Plan Chart

Recent Posts

  • Ready for camp today! @the_renaissance_child #stemlearning #stemeducation #electronicsforkids #summerstemcamp
  • Check out my new article on the @pandia_press blog (<—link in their bio) . As a science educator, I believe in giving students the most complete, accurate, up to date information that we can, in a developmentally appropriate way. Deciding not to mention topics that are “controversial” is not an educational strategy I support. . I have taught in religious environments and gotten pushback on evolution - and I’ll tell you what I told the kids: . Science is science, and religion is religion. I am not here to tell you what to believe in or argue with your pastor, rabbi, priest, imam etc. . Science is not a belief. You don’t have to believe anything in order to understand it or learn the information. There is no ultimate conclusion that science “wants” you to reach, which is why there are scientists from every religion, country, language, etc who can study and communicate about it. It’s not the purview of a specific culture, government, ethnicity or gender. It’s a method for learning about the world - above all, asking questions and trying to make sense of what can be observed directly or indirectly. . Science is not a moral code and has nothing to say about living a good life, though its outcomes (like antibiotics and higher crop yields) can benefit millions. It’s not a substitute for character development or moral instruction. Many scientists continue to believe in the religions they were born into. . Feel free to ask me anything about evolution or any other science topic - I love to research and explain, and I’m teaching an evolution course right now with the museum so I have access to great material and experts. So ask away (-: . But first go to @pandia_press profile and check out the article (-: #scienceeducation #scienceeducator #homeschoolscience #evolution #teachingevolution #whyteachevolution #homeschoolcurriculum #secularhomeschool #secularhomeschooling #secularhomeschooler
  • Book club – After many years of teaching children to read, I’m enjoying raising my own reader ???? Books we’re currently enjoying: the Frank Einstein series, James and the Giant Peach (have lost count how many times he’s read it), and the Nick and Tesla series. The book in the picture is Greetings from Somewhere which is a good beginning chapter book series or a gentle intro to studying places around the world. #raisingareader #homeschoolreading #homeschool #secularhomeschool #booksofinstagram
  • Perler bead science – plant cell . My son loves perler beads, so they’re a natural modeling tool! I made this with his help, looking at various diagrams for guidance. It’s a conceit we will revisit many times, esp once we get a good microscope! #handsonscience #secularhomeschool #homeschoolscience #perlerbeadscience #plantcellmodel
  • Follow trains are a great way to connect with other homeschool families, and this one is for the secular homeschoolers out there. ✨ It can be hard to find secular families in the homeschool world, so here’s what you do: ✨Follow @that_secular_mom ✨Ask for image and script ✨ Follow accounts using this image with the tag #secularmomfollowtrain ✨Like and comment on images. That’s it!! #secularhomeschool #secularlife #homeschooling #homeeducation #hsmom #secularmoms

Archives

  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018

Categories

  • Blog
  • History
  • Homeschool Refresh
  • Homeschooling
  • Kindergarten
  • Math
  • Music
  • Play
  • Reading
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Writing

Recent Posts

  • Ready for camp today! @the_renaissance_child #stemlearning #stemeducation #electronicsforkids #summerstemcamp
  • Check out my new article on the @pandia_press blog (<—link in their bio) . As a science educator, I believe in giving students the most complete, accurate, up to date information that we can, in a developmentally appropriate way. Deciding not to mention topics that are “controversial” is not an educational strategy I support. . I have taught in religious environments and gotten pushback on evolution - and I’ll tell you what I told the kids: . Science is science, and religion is religion. I am not here to tell you what to believe in or argue with your pastor, rabbi, priest, imam etc. . Science is not a belief. You don’t have to believe anything in order to understand it or learn the information. There is no ultimate conclusion that science “wants” you to reach, which is why there are scientists from every religion, country, language, etc who can study and communicate about it. It’s not the purview of a specific culture, government, ethnicity or gender. It’s a method for learning about the world - above all, asking questions and trying to make sense of what can be observed directly or indirectly. . Science is not a moral code and has nothing to say about living a good life, though its outcomes (like antibiotics and higher crop yields) can benefit millions. It’s not a substitute for character development or moral instruction. Many scientists continue to believe in the religions they were born into. . Feel free to ask me anything about evolution or any other science topic - I love to research and explain, and I’m teaching an evolution course right now with the museum so I have access to great material and experts. So ask away (-: . But first go to @pandia_press profile and check out the article (-: #scienceeducation #scienceeducator #homeschoolscience #evolution #teachingevolution #whyteachevolution #homeschoolcurriculum #secularhomeschool #secularhomeschooling #secularhomeschooler
  • Book club – After many years of teaching children to read, I’m enjoying raising my own reader ???? Books we’re currently enjoying: the Frank Einstein series, James and the Giant Peach (have lost count how many times he’s read it), and the Nick and Tesla series. The book in the picture is Greetings from Somewhere which is a good beginning chapter book series or a gentle intro to studying places around the world. #raisingareader #homeschoolreading #homeschool #secularhomeschool #booksofinstagram
  • Perler bead science – plant cell . My son loves perler beads, so they’re a natural modeling tool! I made this with his help, looking at various diagrams for guidance. It’s a conceit we will revisit many times, esp once we get a good microscope! #handsonscience #secularhomeschool #homeschoolscience #perlerbeadscience #plantcellmodel
  • Follow trains are a great way to connect with other homeschool families, and this one is for the secular homeschoolers out there. ✨ It can be hard to find secular families in the homeschool world, so here’s what you do: ✨Follow @that_secular_mom ✨Ask for image and script ✨ Follow accounts using this image with the tag #secularmomfollowtrain ✨Like and comment on images. That’s it!! #secularhomeschool #secularlife #homeschooling #homeeducation #hsmom #secularmoms

Recent Comments

  • LaDonna on Homeschool Kindergarten: Our Approach
  • LaDonna on Homeschool Kindergarten: Our Approach
  • autumn on Secular Homeschool History – Where to Start?
  • Hands on Pre-History: Make Your Own Dig Site - Part 1 - Inquiring Minds Homeschool on Homeschool Prehistory Study
  • Our Weekly Homeschool Routine - Inquiring Minds Homeschool on Poetry Teatime: Adding Joy to Homeschool Writing

Archives

  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018

Categories

  • Blog
  • History
  • Homeschool Refresh
  • Homeschooling
  • Kindergarten
  • Math
  • Music
  • Play
  • Reading
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Writing

Amazon Affiliate

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting this site!

© 2022 Inquiring Minds Homeschool | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme